Democratic Senate hopeful touts policy ties to Mark Kelly despite backing left-wing plans
Senate #Senate
A Democrat running for Senate in Arizona has repeatedly diverged from the Grand Canyon State’s Sen. Mark Kelly (D) on left-wing policy proposals despite touting their alignment on key matters, records show.
Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is vying for Arizona’s Senate seat, claimed in January that he has “the same voting record” as Kelly. At the same time, however, Gallego has on several occasions supported or flirted with more progressive plans that Kelly has flat-out opposed or declined to promote, the Washington Examiner found.
MARK KELLY ZINGS HIS PARTY AND SAYS DEMOCRATS ‘DON’T UNDERSTAND OUR SOUTHERN BORDER’
“I have the same voting record as [Kelly],” Gallego told the Hill on Jan. 27. “And by the way, in Arizona, no matter who you are, no matter who, left, right, or center, you are as a Democrat, you’re always going to be ‘too liberal’ when the Republicans attack you.”
Gallego assumed office in the House in 2015, while Kelly joined the Senate in 2020 after a career as an astronaut. Even though the House member is seeking to link himself to Kelly as the race in Arizona draws close, the two have espoused different policies on hot-button topics that have continued to divide the Democratic Party.
One example is the progressive-affiliated movement to enact Medicare for All, which has been pushed by members of the “Squad” in Congress, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Gallego was a co-sponsor of the Medicare for All Act of 2021, which has not passed and would provide universal healthcare coverage for people while targeting private insurance.
Kelly has said that Medicare for All, which experts say would likely cost trillions of dollars to taxpayers, “takes us in the wrong direction” and is “the opposite direction from where we need to be going.”
“That health insurance isn’t always perfect, but there are a lot of those individuals that like the plan that they have,” Kelly told Politico in 2019 amid Democratic lawmakers and candidates ramping up their support for the policy. “I don’t think we should take that away from them.”
Gallego, on the contrary, has sat on the Congressional Medicare for All Caucus. He also said in 2019 that he is working with his colleagues “to push for bold legislative action” on healthcare policy, including “passing Medicare for All.”
A spokeswoman for Gallego’s campaign told the Washington Examiner that “the Senate and House take up different votes throughout the Congress, and therefore literally no two members from different bodies can have an identical voting record.” She cited how Gallego and Kelly have voted in alignment on major bills that have passed, including the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS and Science Act.
When it comes to the Green New Deal, a progressive climate resolution that has been estimated to cost taxpayers tens of trillions of dollars and kill fossil fuel-backed jobs, Gallego noted in 2019, “I like the idea.”
“In reality, it is very popular, the concept is very popular,” said the congressman, who was not a House co-sponsor of the plan. “The sticking point is going to be how we get to it, but I think we can find a way to do it.”
On the flip side, Kelly has voiced opposition to the plan. He also voted in August 2021 to “prohibit legislation or regulations that would implement the ‘Green New Deal.’”
“I don’t know where Sen. McSally gets her information from,” said Kelly in a 2020 Senate debate against then-Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ). “But since the Green New Deal was authored, I’ve been against it. There’s a lot of stuff in there that has nothing to do with climate.”
Quang Nguyen, chairman of the Arizona state House’s influential Judiciary Committee, told the Washington Examiner that it’s “outrageous” what supporters of the Green New Deal are “doing to our country.”
“It’s unbelievable we can’t be energy independent right now and then continue to work on green technology,” said Nguyen. “I’m all for that. I’m just not for shutting down pipelines and driving energy costs up.”
On the policy of statehood for Washington, which aims to provide congressional voting representation for those in the nation’s capital, Gallego co-sponsored a bill in favor of it. It remains unclear how the policy aligns with the Constitution, which holds that Washington is a federal district.
Gallego voted in April 2021 in favor of statehood, while Kelly’s name does not appear on the Senate’s bill version as a co-sponsor, records show.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Gallego has voted in alignment with President Joe Biden 100% of the time, while Kelly has done so 95.5% of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight. Arizona’s Senate race will prove to be a critical battleground in 2024, as Democrats will be aiming to defend their current slim majority.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), the ex-Democrat who announced in December 2022 that she was becoming an independent, has not announced her bid yet. Sinema is mulling her decision, according to multiple reports.
Washington Examiner Videos
Tags: Senate, Mark Kelly, Arizona, Congress, News
Original Author: Gabe Kaminsky
Original Location: Democratic Senate hopeful touts policy ties to Mark Kelly despite backing left-wing plans